[blindkid] IEP Document Accessibility

Sun Oct 18 07:14:18 UTC 2009

That isn't terribly surprising-- I can't imagine how even the Kurzweil  
would intuitively know one particular square is a blank check box  
while another with an "X" is a checked box, meanwhile on a menu or  
product package, similar shapes are just decorative and should be  
ignored. And no doubt one time it is check boxes and the next radio  
buttons, and on and on...

The problem needs to be resolved from the school's end or more  
specifically by the software creators. I'm really surprised to learn  
this has apparently not been resolved already. We are, however,  
relative newcomers to IEP's (about 5 years into this). Maybe these  
electronic forms are fairly recent or not so common elsewhere?

One other thing-- it could well be that there are alternative output  
formats with some of these packages and that some software users  
aren't aware of them. All it would have to do is generate a text-only  
document, inserting code that prints something like "A check box is  
checked indicating the following selection has been chosen:", or "The  
following option has been rejected:" Then it could just be treated  
like any old document to be brailled.

Can others with older children comment as to what was provided for  
their children once they were involved with their own IEP's?

Are there any people here who actually use that software themselves  
and who could look into that?

Richard

On Oct 17, 2009, at 10:01 PM, Bonnie Lucas wrote:

> I was using Kurzweil to read the PDF of Aubrie's IEP and it was  
> somewhat of a pain to get through the whole thing. Part of the  
> problem may be that I haven't figured out how to adjust everything  
> or nevigate documents like that very well. for me, word is much  
> easier. Aubrie's teacher thinks that if she just write the goals out  
> in a document that this is good enough. Quite frankly, it wasn't  
> until recently that I began to understand how IEP'swork. By the time  
> she graduates, I'll finally know what's going on!
> Bonnie
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carol Castellano" <carol_castellano at verizon.net 
> >
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org 
> >
> Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2009 5:37 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] IEP Document Accessibility
>
>
>> I wonder if Kurzweil could handle the boxes and checks.
>> cArol
>>
>> At 12:40 AM 10/17/2009, you wrote:
>>> I'm guessing the big deal in some cases is that this is not a simple
>>> text document we are dealing with.
>>>
>>> Our IEP's have a good number of boxes and check marks and then  
>>> text is
>>> added in various places to explain why one thing or another is
>>> checked. I don't mean to suggest that braille readers can't  
>>> understand
>>> that, but automated translation of these forms could jumble some of
>>> the content, so proper translations (at least with the forms they  
>>> use
>>> in our schools) might require a fair amount of manual intervention.
>>> Our 7-year-old isn't really ready to be involved in her own IEP's  
>>> yet
>>> but this will be interesting to deal with for her in a few years...
>>>
>>> It sounds like an issue that for some will turn into agreement  
>>> that it
>>> "must" be done but in reality it won't be done, at least not with a
>>> good clean translation...
>>>
>>> One thing seems clear-- if future software design & purchase  
>>> decisions
>>> for IEP packages had braille compatibility in mind from the start,
>>> things could be smoother in these matters, but where would one go to
>>> promote that sort of change? I haven't a clue where one should even
>>> start.
>>>
>>> Richard
>>>
>>>
>>> On Oct 16, 2009, at 11:04 PM, Barbara Hammel wrote:
>>>
>>>> Our school sends them electronically for me.  Sometimes we have to
>>>> hound them but I have gotten them.  My husband has also scanned  
>>>> them
>>>> into the computer before.  They're already on the computer so what
>>>> should the big deal be?
>>>> Barbara
>>>>
>>>> Snow is God's way of reminding us that beauty can be found even in
>>>> the coldest hearts.
>>>>
>>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>>> From: "DrV" <icdx at earthlink.net>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 12:22 AM
>>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind  
>>>> children)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org >
>>>> Subject: [blindkid] IEP Document Accessibility
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Everyone,
>>>>> Our elder son is now in 7th grade & we would like for him to  
>>>>> take a
>>>>> more active role in his IEPs.
>>>>> We get print copies of the reports, goals, & final IEP document.
>>>>> He can't read the print.
>>>>> If we didn't speak English, is it standard practice for these to  
>>>>> be
>>>>> translated into the family's native language?
>>>>> If so, then along that line of reasoning, it would seem like the
>>>>> district should be required to provide these in an  
>>>>> understandable/ accessible format.
>>>>> Providing an electronic Word/Text version would be a little extra
>>>>> work, but certainly seems do-able.
>>>>> I would appreciate some insights into how others have approached
>>>>> this.
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> Eric
>>>>>
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>>
>> Carol Castellano, President
>> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>> 973-377-0976
>> carol_castellano at verizon.net
>> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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